If It's All The Same
by tjmack1986
Summary: Shawn has definite expectations for tonight, involving moonlit mountains and a certain blond junior detective.    Take's place sometime after Neil Simon's: Lovers Retreat.    A response to the "A challenge to test Shules" challenge posted by Psychfan628.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: I don't typically post multi-chaptered fics until they are either finished or have a few good chapters under them. However, I wanted some feedback/encouragement to continue this. **_

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><p><em>1988 - Flashback<em>

_Shawn ran down the stairs, as his suitcase flopped around behind him. He slammed on the brakes just as soon as his feet hit the kitchen floor causing the top of suitcase to raise up and slam into his back. Shawn whined for a moment before Henry came around the corner._

"_None of that, Shawn. I saw you run down those stairs knowing that your suitcase wasn't closed correctly."_

_Shawn pouted slightly, his bottom lip sticking out further then his top. "I couldn't get it to close." His foot kicked at an imaginary clump of dirt. _

_Henry sighed, as he knelt down and shoved the clothing that was strewn haphazardly in and around his suitcase, back into it. Shoving the top down, and leaning his weight into it, Henry snapped the suitcase closed. _

"_There."_

_Shawn grinned at his father. "Thanks, dad."_

_Henry nodded, as he stood up. "Listen, Shawn. There is something very important I want you to remember. You're not used to colder climates, so take what I say to heart, Shawn. Promise me." Henry stood there, waiting for Shawn's answer. _

"_Okay, dad. I promise." _

_Henry led Shawn to one of the kitchen chairs, and waited until he was sitting before taking his own chair. _

"_Remember to always wear layers. I cannot stress this enough, Shawn. If you get caught outside for whatever reason, you'll be able to keep your body heat up."_

_Shawn nodded his head. "Is that all?" _

_Henry sighed. "Yes." If Henry was being honest, he didn't have a lot of experience with colder climates either. He had nothing else to share, not really. He hadn't really had time to research any other survival tips to pass on. Plus, Shawn was going with the Guster family, obviously he wasn't going to be in any danger._

"Seriously, Shawn. You're going on a three day vacation, not planning for the apocalypse." Gus huffed slightly at the sight of Shawn's bedroom.

Clothes were strewn haphazardly around the room. His first suitcase was so full that it was barely closed, and his second was well on it's way to past capacity as well. No one had taught the poor man how to pack correctly. Gus knew he had to correct this, for his best friend's benefit.

"Shawn, just—let me—move!"

Shawn grunted at Gus, as he shoved Gus out of the way with his shoulder. "Dude, let me do this! I know what I'm doing."

Gus groaned. "Of course you do. Oh wait, no you don't, Shawn! Do you not remember every other trip that we took. When we went to Mexico for a week you under packed-"

Shawn glared at Gus. "That was not my fault! I might have been slightly drunk when I packed for that trip. Besides Gus, do you not remember that skiing trip that your parents took us on?"

Gus sighed, nodding in acknowledgment. Shawn's over-packing had actually helped Gus greatly. "We got locked out of the hotel for what, three hours? If I hadn't packed, three coats-"

Gus groaned. "Fine! Pack you're way. Just don't call me crying when Juliet makes fun of you!"

Shawn grinned. "Believe me, buddy. She's the reason that I'm over-killing on the packing. I mean—what if something happens and she doesn't have enough warm clothes? I'll be her knight in clothing armor."

Gus ran a hand over his face. "It's knight in shining armor, Shawn."

Shawn shrugged, a smile on his face. "I've heard it both ways. Besides, Gussy boy—clothing armor makes so much more sense for my predicament." Shawn tossed in a couple more items of clothing, followed quickly by a black velvet box that Shawn carefully placed in a hideaway pocket.

"Wait a minute-"

Shawn's head snapped toward Gus. He had been fairly certain that Gus's attention had been elsewhere—like not on the very noticeable box that he had hidden, hopefully, from Juliet.

"Yes, my good man?" Shawn quirked an eyebrow.

"Are you going to?"

"Let's just say that _**I**_ have definite expectations for this vacation."

Gus's mouth bobbed open for a moment. "Wow," was all he could force from his mouth.

"Dude, you'll totally catch a fly if you leave your mouth hanging open like that." Gus promptly shut it. "Look, it's just. You know that I've had this for a while now. Every since our last vacation—though I still firmly believe it didn't go well—and I think now is the right time."

Gus was able to finally put it altogether. The reason for the getaway to the mountains for some 'light sporting activity' as Shawn had said to Juliet. It was really just for the romantic view of the mountains glowing in the moonlight—Wait, Shawn Spencer was ready to settle down? Since when had that happened?

"Shawn, you're all grown up!" Shawn poked Gus in the chest as he moved forward to hug him.

"Are you crying? Really—Gus?" Shawn sighed, as he pushed the top down on his suitcase. Applying pressure, with one hand, he zipped it closed with another. "Grow up, dude." Shawn fought a smile, as he hefted both bags in his arms. "Jules is waiting." Shawn stood awkwardly for a moment as Gus threw his arms around his shoulders. "So, I'm just going to-" Shawn's sentence trailed off as he sidestepped Gus, and walked toward the front of his make-shift apartment.

Shawn grinned at Juliet, as he threw his two suitcases into the trunk. Turning back toward his front door, he winked and waved at Gus who was standing at the door. Quickly, he threw the door open and clamored inside. Shutting the door, he threw his seat belt on before turning to face Juliet.

"So—ski much, Jules?" His eyebrow quirked slightly.

"I've actually only been skiing once or twice. How about you?" Her free hand reached out to grab his hand. The warmness of it surprised her. Santa Barbara wasn't exactly known for it's cold winter's, however for Californian's, the winter's were pretty chilly.

"So—full disclosure?" Shawn paused, and laughed lightly at the look on her face. "I've only been skiing once. I was eleven, and I went with Gus and his family. It was an epic failure. Funny story, Gus and I actually got locked out of our hotel. Like the entire building. We were stuck outside for two hours, until Mrs. Guster finally realized that we were missing-"

Juliet's eyebrow quirked questionably. "My dad—well you've met him. He wouldn't let me go on the trip unless I promised to pack encase of disaster. Luckily, I had three winter coats that had been packed. Otherwise, we might have frozen to death."

Juliet's hand squeezed Shawn's slightly. "Well, I'm very grateful that you didn't freeze to death."

Shawn smiled her favorite crooked smiled. "Yeah, me too. I've heard that's not a fun way to die. You know me, I'm all about the fun."

Juliet laughed lightly. "Oh, don't I know it."

Shawn practically skipped his way up the stairs of the ski resort. His two suitcases were locked tightly in his fists, with Juliet's two duffel bags slung over each of his shoulders.

"I can carry my own bags, Shawn." Juliet spoke as she rubbed her hands together. Those gloves were sounding more and more inviting with each new blow of ice cold air.

"You're my lady, Jules. It's the gentleman—gentlemanly-thing to do."

Juliet shook her head, as she followed Shawn up the remainder of the steps. Upon entering the toasty warm building, Juliet wondered over to the check-in desk. Shawn walked up behind her.

"Reservation for Spencer." Shawn watched in silence as the young attendant typed on the keyboard for a moment, before a thin smile crossed his lips.

"A-ha. Mr. and Mrs. Spencer, please follow me to your room."

Juliet chuckled uncomfortably, as Shawn nudged her forward with his shoulder, a smile on his face. Once they entered the elevator, an uncomfortable silence fell upon the three occupants. Each floor level they passed, the elevator dinged until it shuddered to a stop and opened the chamber to release it's occupants. Following the young man down the hall, he stopped at the corner and unlocked the door with a key card before turning back to Shawn and Juliet.

"This is you're key card. Make sure to keep it on you at all times. Have fun and visit us again!" With that the young man disappeared down the hall as Shawn shoved the door open.

"Shawn! This room is gorgeous."

Shawn smiled. "Only the best for my lady." Which caused Juliet to turn back toward him and kiss his lips lightly.

"I think I like being you're lady."

Shawn's grin widen, as he walked in further, depositing their bags. Working the zipper on overstuffed bag number one, Shawn squealed when the suitcase seemed to explode it's contents all over him.

"Shawn! How long exactly did you think we were staying?" Shawn eyed her for a moment.

"Do you not remember the Gus story? I come prepared."

Juliet hid a giggle. "I see that. Apparently you thought the world would end tonight."

Shawn growled, even as a smile tugged at his lips. "Not cool, Jules."

Juliet moved forward, enveloping him in a hug. "Does that help, my wounded knight?"

"A little," Shawn said, as he pulled her in closer to him.

"Shawn! Come on, it's after ten."

Shawn shook his head. "Come on, Jules. It's just embarrassing that a grown man can't at least stand on his skies long enough to make it down the bunny trail!"

Shawn huffed. He moved his feet forward just enough to get his skies moving when he lost his footing and he flailed backwards, landing ass first in the snow.

Juliet suppressed a laugh, as she slowly moved forward to check on Shawn who still hadn't moved from falling down—again.

"Shawn, honey, are you okay?" As she got closer, she saw his shoulders shaking. The sound of laughter finally penetrated the cold night air.

"Apparently skiing is not my thing. Give me a hand, Jules?"

Juliet hovered in front of him for a moment, as she eyed him suspiciously. "If you drag me down into that snow with you-"

Shawn held up a hand in mock horror. "I would never!"

"Yeah, right." Juliet feigned annoyance, while trying to hide the smile that was creeping onto her lips.

Leaning forward only slightly, Juliet extended her hand to Shawn. He clasped it tightly, as he used his other hand to shove himself upward. Once he was standing, he smiled at Juliet.

"I'll make you a promise, Jules."

Juliet wiped the snow off her gloves, as she eyed him carefully. "I'm listening."

Shawn's smile grew, "One more attempt down the trail, and we'll go inside warm up-"

Juliet smiled this time. "Okay, fine. I'm going with you though, just in case you bust your head or something."

Shawn sighed, "Not cool, Jules." But the smile gave him away.

"Let's get this over with, Shawn. I'm freezing!"

Shawn nodded, as he started to move himself forward. Juliet followed suit. Though she wasn't overly fantastic at skiing, she had gotten the hang of it better than Shawn had. She watched in horror as he swerved around the trail, one of his poles catching a rock flipped him. Shawn tumbled down the remainder of the trail, and she lost sight of him. However the scream that pierced the still night air was enough to make her pick up speed, as she headed down to where she had last saw Shawn.

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><p><em><strong>AN: Evil cliffy? Yeah, it's kinda how I roll. Review, review, review. I can probably have this knocked out by the end of the week if I'm properly motivated!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I've had a couple of people point out that Shawn went skiing in Extradition: British Columbia. So I apologize that this bit of information escaped me. I do ask that you ignore my tiny boo-boo, and enjoy the story anyways. This chapter is a bit longer than the first, and I might have misjudged how many chapters this is going to have. I'm looking at four-possibly five. **_

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><p>Juliet weaved herself slowly down the small sloping bunny trail. Once she arrived at the bottom she saw that Shawn had veered off toward the dense wooded area to the right. Bringing herself to a slow stop, Juliet bent over to unclasp her skis before removing them. Checking to make sure that her ski boots were tied firmly to her feet, Juliet started walking toward the wooded area that held broken branches.<p>

Following Shawn's path of destruction was easy, however with each passing step she took Juliet became even more worried. Shawn was obviously going to have pretty serious injuries, so she had to think about how she was going to get back to the ski resort. Better yet, get him to a hospital to get examined. In the distance, Juliet heard something that sounded slightly like a moan. Cocking her head to the left and closing her eyes, Juliet let her ears take over for her. Turning her body toward the sound, Juliet took off in the direction that she was fairly certain she'd find her boyfriend's mangled body. She shook her head to rid herself of the image that thought had conjured up. Shawn would be fine. Maybe a broken arm—possibly a broken leg. That's as much as she would allow herself to think about. Nothing worse was wrong with him, couldn't be.

The further she walked, the louder the moaning got. Suddenly she realized that he was close by as the moaning had turned to pained cries and shouts for help. He was obviously well enough to yell for help. However, what came out of his mouth next sent her running forward until the ground gave way and she tumbled downward. Juliet felt something snap, not entirely sure what it was. All she could feel was pain radiating throughout her body. Her head struck the ground below her hard and darkness ebbed the edge of her vision. As her eyes drifted close, she swore she heard Shawn scream her name followed by a curse.

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><p>Pain. That was the first thing that registered when Shawn came to. Everything hurt. His head, his arms his legs. It felt like someone or something was sitting on his chest. Breathing was a challenge in and of itself. He heard someone crunching around on the leaves off in the distance. Whoever it was, he needed to get their attention. He would need to yell, and it was going to cause pain. Steeling himself, Shawn took a deep breath, enticing a loud moan to escape his lips. Hissing at the pain that flared in his chest, Shawn used his battered shoulders to move himself into a semi-sitting position. The movement caused pain to flare up along both sides of his body, and an intense dizziness that tempted to take consciousness from him again.<p>

Shawn shut his eyes against the pain and dizziness. He awaited for it to pass, as more moans escaped his lips. Once he felt like the giant hole he had tumbled into had stopped spinning it's muddy self in circles, he opened his eyes.

"Help me." His voice was hoarse, but he screamed out yet again.

He listened as the footsteps drew closer, too close. Whoever was walking around up there was going to meet the same fate as him.

"Stop! Don't come any closer." Pain flared in his chest causing him to scream out in pain.

His eyes twisted around the pain, but forced them to stay open. He watched in horror as the ground beneath the person gave way and a rolling ball of blond hair fell toward him.

"Juliet! Damn it!"

He needed to get over to her. To check on her. The moon was now well overhead and shined down it's full intensity. Unfortunately it wasn't quite enough. All Shawn could see was that his jacket was torn in odd places.

Shawn knew he had to take stock of his injuries before he could help Juliet. Looking past the torn jacket, and the barely there sweatpants he had tugged on over his jeans. He noticed that he could move his right arm, even though it sent a pulsating pain through his shoulder. So he made a mental checklist. _**Possible dislocated shoulder, check.**_ His left arm hung loosely at his side, no amount of staring at it or willing it to rise caused it to move an inch. _**Possible broken left arm, check**_. Bending his left leg at the knee, he noted that there was a flaring pain higher up, close to his thigh, but that the leg was useful. At least long enough to drag his mangled self over to Juliet's side. His right leg, however, was almost as useless as his left arm. _**Possible broken right leg, check**_. Shawn shook his head, and groaned as a new wave of dizziness and nausea flared up. _**Definite concussion, check**_. Ignoring the continued wave of dizziness and the protesting pain in his chest at the sudden movement, Shawn started to drag himself forward using his right arm and left leg to help shove himself along.

After what seemed to be a lifetime, Shawn was finally able to pull himself upright. His back leaning against on side of the mud-entrapped wall. Leaning over, he pressed two fingers to the pulse point on Juliet's neck. Her tumble down into the hole of hell had been horrific to say the least. He needed to know that she was still alive. He laughed almost giddily when he felt a strong thrumming of her pulse. Moving his fingers to the back of her neck, he probed them deeply into the tissue. Nothing stood out to being broken. Fairly certain that his girlfriend hadn't broken her neck, braced Juliet with his semi-good arm. He grimaced at the yanking, feeling bad about jarring any injuries that she might have. Causing pain that she would surely feel when she woke up. The yanking was causing his shoulder to flare with pain, protesting all of the sudden movement. Soon he had succeeded in what he was attempting to. Juliet's head lay limply on his lap. Mud caked in her blond hair, and on the entire right side of her face. Her jacket was torn worse than his, and her body was shaking from the cold. Yanking himself forward, he removed the sleeve from his good arm, before attempting to remove the sleeve from his bad arm. Clenching his teeth to keep from screaming out, Shawn freed his bad arm. Pulling the jacket around, he laid it over Juliet's prone body.

Leaning his head back, Shawn let his eyes drift close. The pounding in his head eased as darkness over took him.

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><p>Juliet moaned out as her eyes fluttered open. It took a moment of looking around before she realized what had happened. She had been scouring the wintery woods for her boyfriend. The last thing she remembered before waking up was the ground beneath her rumbling and shaking. It wasn't an earthquake, at least she didn't think it was an earthquake. Letting her eyes probe her surroundings, she realized that she was in a muddy hole of some sort. That's when she realized that her throbbing head was laying on something comfortable. However, she knew she needed to take stock of her injuries before moving. With a fall like her's, she could have easily broken something. Juliet definitely didn't want to aggravate whatever injuries she might have, but she also needed to find Shawn.<p>

Testing out her right arm, she realized that it was in fairly good shape. No more pain came from moving it. Her left arm was tucked under her body, so she'd have to test it once she got herself upright. Moving her right and left legs caused next to no pain. At least, no more than she was currently feeling. Breathing was hard, but not _**broken rib**_ hard. To which she chalked up to some definite bruising and possible cracked ribs. The wave of dizziness that made her feel like upchucking caused her to check concussion off her list of injuries to check for.

Once she was more or less upright, she turned her attention to what she had been laying on. A gasp caught in her throat, as she went to lift her left hand up to her mouth. After a second, Juliet realized that her left arm was not responding her request. Looking down, the mangled arm was most definitely broken. It was bent at an unimaginable angle that made her already queasy stomach churn that much more.

Gazing at Shawn again, she realized that his injuries were far worse than hers. His breathing was hitched and ragged. Most definitely a sign of broken ribs. She'd need to keep him as still as possible to make sure that his lung stayed unpunctured. After a moment she realized that the jacket he had been wearing was currently missing—as was his skis. She hated thinking of the speed he had to be going at to lose his skis.

Leaning slightly against the left side of his body, she reached out her good arm to gently caress his cheek. The scream that pierced the silent air caused her to jerk back, and groan at the pain it flared in her broken left arm and her concussed head. Placing her right hand against her head, she prayed for their muddy dungeon to stop spinning.

"Shawn, what's wrong?" Her voice was weak and panicked.

"Broken arm. Hurts like hell." His voice was hoarse, probably from all the yelling and screaming he had done to get her attention in the first place.

She sighed as the spinning came to a stop. "Any other injuries?" Her head lulled to the side so she wouldn't have to turn it completely to see him. When he nodded his head in acknowledgment, she saw the wince. "Name them, and stay awake. You have a concussion too."

"Well, aside from the useless left arm, and the concussion. I'm pretty sure I have at least one broken rib, my right shoulder might be dislocated, and my right leg is most definitely broken. Oh, and weird, but my thigh burns like no one's business."

Juliet blinked at him as he named off his multitude of injuries, and felt her eyes well with tears. "I am so sorry."

Reaching his right arm across his battered body, he caressed her cheek softly. "Why are you sorry?"

Juliet sniffled. "I just—I dunno, I feel like maybe this is my fault."

Shawn barked out a laugh, and moaned as pain flared in his chest again. "How in the world is this your fault?"

"I don't know."

Shawn smiled softly at her. "Good, then let's drop that topic."

Juliet eyed him curiously, and noticed that he was shaking. "Shawn, where is your jacket?"

Shawn just continued to smile. "You were freezing, Jules. I mean, your jacket was pretty useless being all ripped up like that—So I let you use it as a blanket."

Juliet frowned slightly. Steeling herself, she looked behind her and saw that his jacket was pinned between her back and the muddy wall. Leaning forward, Juliet bent her right arm behind her and snatched the cold, muddy fabric. "Put this back on before you become hypothermic."

Shawn just nodded his head, wincing at the flare of pain behind his eyes. "See, aren't you glad that I packed so much extra clothing?"

Juliet sighed, and fought against the smile that tugged at her lips. "Shawn, they might be useful, if they weren't in our room."

Shawn glowered. "You have a point." His head lulled backward.

"Don't even think about closing those eyes, Shawn Spencer."

Shawn let his head lull against his left shoulder, looking at her. "But—Jules I'm tired!"

"I don't care. I prefer you to not slip into a coma. I kind of like having my boyfriend around to talk to."

Shawn smiled softly. "You do?"

"Of course, I do, silly."

They sat in silence for a moment before a thought struck her. Using her back and the mud-wall to pull herself into a standing position, Juliet ignored the flare of pain and dizziness, to reach into her pocket. Pulling the unharmed cell phone from her jacket pocket, she yelled out triumphantly. She debated for a moment who she should call. Both had their pluses, however she eventually decided to call Gus. The phone rang for what felt like forever.

Finally a groggy sounding Gus came to the phone. "Hello?"

"Gus, it's Juliet. Look, me and Shawn have had an accident. We need help. I need you to get a hold of Carlton, and make sure he brings an ambulance with him."

"An ambulance—I only—bits and pieces." Juliet cursed when her phone started to cut out.

"Accident—ambulance—Carlton."

"Okay." Was the last thing she heard before her signal was lost.

Whipping around, Juliet looked at Shawn. "Gus does know where you were taking me, right?"

Shawn gulped. "Sort of."

Juliet eyed him suspiciously. "Sort of?"

"I told him we were taking a trip to a ski resort in the mountains. I didn't mention any specifics."

Juliet sighed, as she lowered herself back to the ground. "Wonderful."

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><p><em><strong>3 reviews in a day? Not bad! See, I got all excited (not to mention that I sorta have this story all planned out in my head) and sat down today, even though I had class tonight, and wrote out chapter 2. Review! It's important to my writing muse.<strong>_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Alright! Chapter three. Finished this up at a friends house. The ski resort I mention is a real place (I actually looked it up!). One more chapter left after this. Enjoy!**_

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><p>Gus paced the floor of his living room. When he reached the window on his third go around, he peered out. The lights from a familiar vehicle caused his racing heart to slow a little bit. Lassiter hadn't been happy when he had called and woke the detective up. However, when Gus had spoke of the mysterious phone call from Juliet, he had gruffly announced he'd be over in ten minutes.<p>

Walking swiftly from the window, Gus counted down from five. As Gus lowered his last finger, he had a pounding on the front door. His strides were long and quick, but not quick enough. Another five raps were heard, followed by, "Damn it, Guster! You better not have went back to sleep."

Opening the door, Gus was about to allow the gruff detective entrance into his apartment, when Lassiter simply shoved his way in.

"Now, this call-"

Gus sighed, as he followed Lassiter over to the sitting area he had set up in front of this flat screen television. Sitting on the couch, Gus faced Lassiter that had taken a seat on the lounge chair that Shawn had claimed many times before.

"There must not be good reception at the ski resort-"

Lassiter growled. "Ski resort? That's were Spencer took her!"

If Gus could have disappeared into the cushions of the couch, he would have. However, since that wasn't an option, he straightened his back and nodded his head firmly. He might not actually feel calm, cool, and collected, but he damn well could fake it.

Lassiter groaned, shaking his head. "Continue."

"Anyway, her phone kept cutting out. I heard something about ambulance, but couldn't hear the rest. When I said so, then I caught the word accident. I tried to tell her to move around to get a better reception, because I couldn't understand her. She didn't answer right away, so I simply added an okay. After that the line went dead."

Lassiter looked at Gus, his face was pure stone. Not one ebb of emotion written across it. "Do you happen to know which resort that idiot took O'Hara?"

Gus shook his head. "Nope."

"Alright. Come with me, Guster. We need to trace, O'Hara's phone. If the words _**accident**_ and _**ambulance**_ are in the same sentence, then it has Spencer written all over it."

Gus glowered at the detective's back. He wanted nothing more than to argue with Lassiter, stand up for Shawn, since he couldn't stand up for himself right now. However, he also needed to know what was going on. Gus knew that it was more important to stay on Lassiter's good side right now. He could lay into the detective later for his crass attitude toward his best friend later.

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><p>The wind howled loudly sending a chill straight through Juliet's body. She fought against her body's first line of defense, and cut the shiver off before it had a chance to start. Looking down at the phone that was still clutched tightly in her hand, Juliet noted the time. She had begrudgingly allowed Shawn to sleep, though Juliet had promised a bi-hourly wake up call. Hope was starting to dissipate. It was nearing the first two hour mark, and no much of a twig snap could be hard anywhere around them.<p>

Juliet couldn't handle the silence anymore, and though she knew that sleep was the best recipe for Shawn right. At least the best she could offer him, she wanted to wake him up so badly. Still, he had a half hour until his wake up call, and it was only fair to let him sleep the full two hours. Since Shawn had dozed up, Juliet had wriggled herself into a standing position long enough to teeter over to Shawn's opposite side. That way they could huddle together without fear of hurting each other. Reaching her glove clad hand, Juliet intertwined her fingers with Shawn's equally glove clad ones. Her head lulled against his shoulder, and she felt the exhaustion hit her like a ton of bricks.

Though she was able to keep the outward shivers at bay—for now, Juliet had no control over the violent internal ones that were shaking her insides around. This alone was draining any energy she might have had left, but the slight warmness she felt huddled up next to Shawn made her eyes droopy. Add in the concussion and it made her wonder how she was able to keep her eyes open.

"Jules—Jules, no! Move, Jules!"

Shawn's battered body was shaking, as his mouth worked overtime. Stumbling over his words in the sheer force of trying to get them out. Sitting back up, Juliet noted that his eyes were still closed, although no longer peacefully. They fluttered around, as his voice grew louder and more desperate with each and every word.

"Shawn." Her voice was soft as she shook him softly, trying to not jostle his dislocated shoulder too much.

"Jules!" He finally screamed as his eyes flew open and he sat up. Shawn groaned out at all the pain the sudden movement caused. He stared at Juliet for a moment, his eyes glassy looking, before turning his head to the left and vomiting. His body shook with each individual heave, as it wreaked havoc on his body.

Finally the heaves dissipated, and Shawn whimpered as he eased himself back against the wall. He could feel Juliet's worried gaze on him, but he wasn't ready to talk just yet. The pounding in his temples needed to go away before he could speak for fear that it might make him vomit again.

"Shawn."

Grimacing at the pain it caused, Shawn lifted his right arm just high enough to hold up his index finger. He could practically feel Juliet nod her head in acknowledgment. Finally the pain that was beating behind his eyes slowed to a mere ache, and he forced his eyes open.

"I'm fine—now."

Juliet sighed, as she snuggled her good side against Shawn, mindful of his numerous injuries. She noted that leaning against Shawn was much warmer than just sitting beside him. At first she figured it was the body heat, however as she grew warmer and warmer, it became obvious that it wasn't just body heat. Swallowing hard, Juliet pulled back and stared at Shawn's profile, his eyes were open but were slightly unfocused. Reaching her good arm up, she removed her glove with her teeth before placing the appendage against Shawn's forehead. The amount of heat radiating from it worried her.

Jamming her now freezing hand into what was left of her jacket pocket, she mentally went over Shawn's injuries trying to figure out which were causing him to have a fever. Suddenly she remembered that he had been complaining of his left leg burning.

"Shawn, does your leg still burn?"

Startled, Shawn jerked his head toward Juliet, before wincing. "Yeah. It's actually getting worse, but with all the other pain it's kind of hard to judge what's coming from where."

Juliet nodded. "Shawn—I need to look at your leg."

"Well, I have jeans on under my sweats, but have a go at it I suppose."

Juliet sighed. "Can you use your right hand to help me? I kind of only have one good arm." She faked a smile, trying to keep the worry from her voice and face. It was easier said that done, but Shawn didn't let on that he knew anything was up.

With his right hand, Shawn peeled back what was left of his sweatpants as Juliet leaned forward and moved the other side of the fabric. She gasped, a small twig no bigger than her middle finger was protruding from his quadriceps muscle. It had stopped bleeding a while ago, but it was starting to ooze something, but without light Juliet couldn't be sure what exactly it was. However, she was fairly certain that this was not a good thing. His leg and fever were ticking time bombs, and if Gus and Lassiter didn't hurry up and locate them, then she was fearful that Shawn wouldn't be alive whenever they did find them.

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><p>Gus paced the tiny aisle behind Lassiter's desk. Most of the officers had already gone home for the night, being that it was technically near one o'clock in the morning now. Which left Lassiter to pull up the GPS for both Juliet's car and phone. That way if her phone was off, he could still locate them. After fighting with the program for nearly a half an hour, he was able to pull up the location.<p>

"Thank god! They're only about 2 hours away. With the siren and lights going, we can make it there in forty-five minutes or less."

Gus sighed with relief. "Finally!"

Lassiter grabbed his jacket, and followed Gus out of the station. Gus took the steps three at a time before flying into the passenger seat of Lassiter's Crown Vic. Lassiter sped walked around to the drive side, phone held firmly to his ear.

"I need an ambulance to meet me at Mt. Pinos Nordic Ski Area in Frazier Park. We have a possible officer down."

Lassiter crammed himself into the driver seat. Turning the ignition, he slammed the gear shift in drive and took off toward the interstate.

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><p>Juliet moaned as her eyes fluttered open. Letting the depressing site of their muddy cave hole come into full view, Juliet groaned. Then she realized that she had fallen asleep. Yanking her cell phone from it's place in her pocket with her good hand, Juliet cursed under her breath. Her head lulled to the side, sure enough Shawn's head was lulled against his right shoulder. His mouth hung open, as a light snore fluttered from it and a droplet of drool hung from the corner of his mouth. Given the situation, Juliet let a tiny giggle escape her lips before lightly poking his arm.<p>

"Shawn." her voice was a dry whisper, as the wind carried it away. Her body had long since adjusted to the biting cold. Plus the feverish heat that was pouring off of Shawn kept her nice and toasty. Though deep down she knew this wasn't a good thing. "Shawn." She tried to speak louder, but her throat was so dry she couldn't get any power behind her voice. She didn't want to risk jostling his already battered and broken body more so than she already had. Even if it went against everything she was taught, Juliet figured it was better just to let him sleep it off.

In the distance she swore she heard someone calling her name, however as the wind died down slightly Juliet heard a loud, raspy _**Shawn**_, being yelled. It was unmistakable whose voice it was. Juliet smiled proudly, ecstatic that Gus had made out enough of her S.O.S call to get Carlton involved. However, she wasn't sure how to flag them down. Her voice wasn't working correctly to shout out to them. An idea popped into her head, but it would only work if her cellphone had a signal. Looking at it, she saw the infamous two bars. It was a low signal, but surely to God it was enough to send one text message.

With her good hand, Juliet typed out slowly, '_**Look for big muddy hole. Shawn is injured badly. Need assistance.**_' She knew that Carlton would be able to decipher it exactly. Hoping that the elder detective had already called for an ambulance. A proud smile crossed her lips when the text sent correctly. She waited, when she heard her's and Shawn's name being called closer and closer until a light shone down into their hole. Juliet looked up and saw Gus and Carlton looking back at her.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Alright guys! This is it. The end. Hope you all enjoyed this, as I enjoyed writing it. **_

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><p>Pain, rather intense in nature crippled Shawn to something soft and almost comfortable. Not quite his bed, which was comfortable but lumpy and hard. His memory seemed to be off for a moment as he remembered taking Juliet on a romantic weekend vacation to Mt. Pinos Nordic Ski Area. The ring hidden so securely in his suitcase. He had planned the whole thing out. Yet, he didn't understand why he was in so much pain. Slowly, as the rest of his body woke, the pain he felt intensified. He wanted to scream out, but he didn't want to startle Juliet. Somewhere, almost in the distance from the sound of it, he heard a rather persistent beeping. Something that he had heard before—when he had—Shawn groaned as his mind was battered with images of flying, without control, down the bunny trail. A sign passed in front of his eyes, on the virtual tour of <em><strong>The Memory of Pain<strong>_, he thought he had gone down the bunny trail. It had been the same one he had used all day hadn't it? The sign though, it had said advanced trail, level one.

The memories continued to assault his battered mind, as he veered off into the wooded area that surrounded the trail on both sides. His skis had caught on a log that had sent him flying into the air. Somehow when he went airborne, he had been ski-less. The painful thud of landing in that muddied prison. Then, suddenly Juliet was there, blood caked to the side of her face. She had fallen into the muddy prison as well.

Someone must have found them though, if the beeping he heard was indeed a heart monitor. Juliet, hadn't been as badly injured as he had, had she? Juliet was fine. He was fine. They'd go home, and he'd just put his plan into action in the safety of Santa Barbara. God knows that he isn't going skiing anytime soon—likely ever again.

Voices suddenly surrounded him, and he started to feel claustrophobic as he tried to place them all.

"I think he might wake up soon." That was definitely Gus.

"He better, I want to know what in the name of sweet lady justice happened!" That was unmistakable. Lassipoo really did care!

"Shawn, please wake up." Ah-ha! There is a voice that could get his leaden heavy eyelids to work correctly.

He willed them to open, but it was so not happening.

"I told you what happened, Carlton." That's his girl, sticking up for her man! "It was an accident, it was dark and Shawn misread the sign. He thought he was on the bunny trail. Hell, I thought he was on the bunny trail."

"Besides that, Lassiter. I still owe you a chew out from dissing Shawn earlier. I know that he's not your favorite person, but my best friend was dying while you could do nothing but blame him and call him an idiot." Go, Gus! Stand up for your best friend... wait, he had been dying? He remembered that he had hurt his arm and leg, but he didn't remember being so badly hurt that he had been dying.

This acknowledgment sent his eyelids into an open position. The light that fluttered in from the overhead light and the open window caused him to gasp in pain.

"Light—bright!"

Shawn vaguely watched as Gus fluttered over to his left-hand side and switched the overhead light to dim, and closed the curtain to block out the sunlight.

"Shawn! Oh, God. You had me so worried!" Juliet's hand fluttered to his right arm.

Shawn took a moment to glance himself over. His right leg was resting on three pillows with a thick white cast layered on it. _**Broken leg, check**_. His left arm was much like his leg, resting on a couple of pillows with a familiar thick cast layered on it. _**Broken arm, check**_. His right arm was laying against his chest, no cast adorned it, but it was slung into a sling. Breathing still hurt, but not as severely as he remembered, so perhaps he hadn't broken any ribs. His left leg was covered by the blankets that covered his battered body. However, the tightness he felt was familiar as he realized that gauze adorned his left thigh.

"Thirsty."

Shawn let his head lull to the right, and felt his eyes sting with tears. A large bandage covered half of Juliet's forehead, which must have been the cause of blood that dripped down the side of her face. Her left arm was held up by a sling, and barely hid the large white cast that adorned it. She had broken her arm as well.

Using her good arm, Juliet grabbed the cup of water that was sitting on the table near his bed. Gus helped him sit up enough to sip at the icy liquid until his throat no longer felt like the Sahara.

"What happened? I mean—I remember falling. I remember you falling—not much after that."

Juliet sniffled lightly as she looked at the other two men that stood awkwardly around the room. "Lassiter and I are going to grab some coffee, Juliet would you like some?" She simply shook her head. "I'll be back soon, Shawn."

Quickly, Gus and Lassiter vacated the room, as Juliet leaned forward.

"You fell asleep. I was getting ready to wake you up for a concussion check when I noticed that your body was unbearably hot. You were running a high temperature. Then I remembered that you said something about your left leg burning. You were groggy, but you helped me remove your sweatpants. There was a twig that had impaled your thigh, and because it hadn't been treated, it got infected. That's what caused your temperature. Not long after that I fell asleep too. When I woke up, I realized that Carlton and Gus were searching nearby for us. I was able to send them a text that led them to us-"

She trailed off as tears started to cascade down her cheeks. Shawn wanted so badly to reach out and wipe them away, but found himself unable to.

"By the time we got you to the hospital—The doctors weren't sure you'd make it through the night. They had to put you into a medically induced coma to ensure that you didn't aggravate your injuries-"

Shawn just nodded, he hadn't realized how bad off he had been. He had been, for the most part, concerned about Juliet. Watching her tumbled down into the God-forsaken hole. His heart clenched at the memory, and his heart monitor alerted her to the clenching.

"Shawn, are you alright?"

He nodded through a tight lipped smile. "I just—are you okay?" His eyebrow cocked slightly.

Juliet couldn't suppress that laugh that bubbled up into her mouth. "You almost die, and you're worried about me and my broken arm?"

Shawn's face sobered quickly. "I can't get the image of you tumbling down into that hole out of my mind. I thought for sure that you had broken your neck." Tears filled his eyes. He wanted to reach out to her, to touch her and feel that she was indeed okay, but the damned cast and sling made that impossible.

"Shawn, I'm fine. They kept me over night for observation. My arm broke cleanly. Aside from some physical therapy, I'm going to be fine. You need to worry about you."

Shawn nodded. "So, what's the exact damage?" He asked as his eyes looked out over his body again.

"You were in surgery for five hours. They had to set both, your arm and leg. They had to put pins into your leg, and it's going to take longer to heal than any of your other injuries. Your arm had a fairly clean break, your right shoulder was dislocated and they had to reset it. You have five cracked ribs, and two broken ones. The twig wasn't as small as I thought. Well over half of it was actually in your leg. It severed several layers of your quadriceps muscle that they had to go in to repair-"

Shawn smiled wryly. "Long story short, I'm going to be confined to a wheelchair for a very long time, and I'm due loads of physical therapy, correct?"

Juliet nodded. "Yes, Shawn."

"And you'll take care of me?" His eyebrow cocked mischievously.

"Yes."

He smiled fully, and Juliet couldn't stop the chuckle. "Will that care involve sponge baths? Cause I am totally open to that!"

"Shawn." Juliet growled playfully. She loved that Shawn was being himself after everything that happened.

"Just one more thing, Jules." She nodded. "Never skiing again. Just saying."

"I think that's fair." She smiled, as she pressed her good hand against his cheek.

* * *

><p>Shawn sighed. Two weeks he had been stuck in his wheelchair. He couldn't even push himself around, which meant that he had a constant babysitter. Juliet was still on medical leave due to her arm, so nine times out of ten she was his on duty babysitter, which sat pretty good with him. However there were those days when Juliet had to make a grocery run with Gus, and his father had to sit with him while she was gone. There was that one day that his dad wasn't available, so the chief sent Lassiter over to sit with him for an hour. Oh the fun that was had that day.<p>

The thing that sucked worse was that Shawn still had that perfect ring sitting in his suitcase. Not only was it bad enough that he couldn't get down on one knee to propose to Juliet right now, but sitting in a wheelchair holding out a ring just doesn't have the right romantic feel to it. Which meant he had to wait, at least until he was able to move around on his own free will.

"Shawn." Her voice was soft, almost velvety. He smiled softly, as he closed his eyes and listened to her bare-feet pad against the hardwood floor. "What's this?" Her voice cracked, and his fantasy disappeared.

Cracking an eyelid open, he tried to keep the shock off his face. She must be finally going through their luggage—and she must have came across a beautiful sliver ring that she wasn't meant to see—at least not yet.

"Must be, Gus's." Shawn simply quirked his eyebrow and shrugged his shoulders. He winced at the pull it gave his nearly healed dislocated shoulder. It was one of the only things that didn't hurt on him anymore. Everything else still felt as fresh as it had nearly a month ago.

"Why would Gus have hidden an engagement ring in _**your**_ suitcase? The same suitcase that you took on vacation with you? Let's not forget the fact that Gus only _**just**_ now started dating your nurse from the hospital."

Shawn sighed. "First off, how's that going for my bestest bro? I mean, it's a little long distance, what with her living in Frazier and him living here—in Santa Barbara. Wait, do you think he'll move there when they get married—oh God! I'm going to lose my magic-head! Noooooo!"

Juliet leaned down so that she was eye level with Shawn. "Focus, Shawn. The ring?"

Shawn frowned for a moment, before deciding to just go with it. When had things ever gone right for him in his life? Might as well just jump aboard and ride it out. "Juliet, I have something very important to ask you—can you kneel down?"

Sighing, Juliet sat the jewelry box on Shawn's left leg, as she steadied herself with her good arm. Once she was down on one knee, Shawn fought against the chuckle that bubbled into his mouth.

"Juliet O'Hara. Will you do me the greatest honor, and agree to be my wife?" His face was stern and serious. He realized in that moment that he was stupid to wait anyway. How many times has he thought that they had all the time in the world, only to have that belief yanked from him in such a harsh way. It was time that he grew up, that he moved forward with his life, hopefully with Juliet O'Hara as his wife.

"Oh my God." Her good hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. She had to know it was coming, she wasn't a stupid woman. Yet here she was shocked as ever, with his stern and serious gaze staring at her, waiting for an answer. Finally a smile crossed her lips. It was time to grab life by the horns, and there was no one else in this world that she'd rather do some life grabbing with, then Shawn Spencer. "Yes! Of course!"

Lifting herself to a standing position, she bent down and placed her lips against Shawn's lips. "I love you, Shawn Spencer." Her voice was husky as she whispered it against his lips.

"I love you too, Juliet O'Hara."

Standing back up, Juliet handed Shawn the opened jewelry box, as he took the ring out and placed it on her left hand. Juliet took a full on look at the ring on her finger and smiled. Today was one of the happiest of her life, and it was only going up from there.


End file.
